625 years of priestly service recognized

By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Fourteen priests currently serving or who have served in the Archdiocese of Miami — and who represent a combined 625 years of service to the Church — will be honored by Archbishop Thomas Wenski and their fellow priests during the annual chrism Mass, celebrated the Tuesday of Holy Week, March 26, 2024, at St. Mary Cathedral. Here are brief biographies of the jubilarians.

DIAMOND JUBILARIANS - 60 YEARS

Msgr. John Delaney

Msgr. Delaney was ordained in his native Ireland June 21, 1964, and came to the archdiocese that August. He began serving as parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception in Hialeah, then St. Anastasia in Fort Pierce and St. Edward in Palm Beach (both of which were part of the Diocese of Miami at that time). At the same time, he served as chaplain of the Newman Center at Indian River Junior College and Palm Beach Junior College. In June 1971 he was named administrator of Sacred Heart Parish in Lake Worth. He served there until April 1974 when he was named pastor of Holy Family, North Miami. In January 1988, he left Holy Family and went on medical leave. In May 1995, he began serving at All Hallows Seminary in Ireland while assisting seasonally at St. Helen in Fort Lauderdale. He retired in March 2004.

Father Edward Dubriske, Edmundite Fathers

Father Dubriske is marking his diamond jubilee of service with the Society of St. Edmund (Edmundite Fathers). He has been in the Archdiocese of Miami since October 2017, now living and serving the residents at Oasis Living Quarters in Fort Lauderdale.

Msgr. Pedro García

Msgr. García was born in Matanzas, Cuba, Aug. 23, 1935, and after studies in Cuba and in the Séminaire des Missions Etrangéres (Seminary for Foreign Missions) in Montreal, Canada, he was ordained for his home diocese Aug. 2, 1964. He served in various parishes in that diocese until 1971, when he moved to the Archdiocese of Havana and later to the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba. He came to the Archdiocese of Miami in December 1984, and began serving as parochial vicar at St. John Bosco, Miami. In December 1988 he was named parochial vicar at Our Lady of Divine Providence, Miami, where he served until September 1993, when he was named temporary administrator of San Lazaro in Hialeah. He remained at San Lazaro as parochial vicar until March 1995, when he was named administrator of St. Ann Mission in Homestead. He remained there until his retirement in July 2011. He was named a Prelate of Honor to His Holiness, with the title of monsignor, in July 2007.

Father Sean O’Sullivan

Born in Ireland, Father O’Sullivan was ordained June 13, 1964, and came to the then Diocese of Miami in October of that year. He served as parochial vicar in Sacred Heart, Lake Worth, and then at St. Rose of Lima, Miami Shores, during which time he was also spiritual director at Archbishop Curley High School (now closed) in Miami. From 1968 to 1971 he served as parochial vicar at St. John the Apostle in Hialeah and moderator of the North Dade Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). He then spent time in higher studies in Tallahassee and New York’s Columbia University. After returning to the archdiocese in November 1978, he served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (now Holy Rosary-St. Richard) in Palmetto Bay, and on the staff of the Catholic Service Bureau (now Catholic Charities) from 1981 to 1995. For part of that time, he was in residence at St. Catherine of Siena in Miami and Holy Family in North Miami, and at Little Flower in Coral Gables. He retired in October 1995.

Father David Russell

Father Russell was ordained May 16, 1964, and worked for the next six years as parochial vicar at St. Monica, Miami Gardens; St. Patrick, Miami Beach; St. Mary Cathedral, Miami; and St. Francis de Sales, Miami Beach. During this time he also held positions in the chancery, including as secretary to then Bishop Coleman Carroll; bishop’s representative to the diocesan newspaper, The Voice; member of the Liturgy Commission; member of the Radio and TV Commission; executive secretary of the Human Relations Commission; deputy coordinator of the Task Force for Urban Problems; archbishop’s representative on the State Committee for Study about Religion and Public Schools; and director of broadcasting for the Radio and TV Department. In June 1970, he was named founding administrator of St. Maurice Parish, Dania Beach. He remained there until September 1974, when he was appointed pastor of St. Louis in Pinecrest. In August 1982, he left St. Louis and took a year-long sabbatical. Upon his return in August 1983, he joined the faculty of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach. In May 1985, he was appointed pastor of St. John Neumann in Miami, where he served until his retirement in October 2002. Father Russell also has served as both member and chair of the Archdiocesan Art and Architecture Committee.

 

GOLDEN JUBILARIANS - 50 YEARS

Father Eduardo Álvarez, Jesuits

Father Álvarez was born Aug. 29, 1945, in Havana, Cuba. In 1958, he began studying at El Colegio de Belén there, where he said he underwent “a spiritual transformation that would last the rest of his life.” He left Cuba in 1961 as one of the unaccompanied minors brought to the U.S. through Operation Pedro Pan. Here he joined the first student body of Belen Jesuit, housed in those early days on the grounds of Gesu School in Miami. After graduation, he joined the Jesuit novitiate in Spain and then went to the Dominican Republic. He was ordained in May 1974 by Miami’s first archbishop, Coleman F. Carroll. After obtaining master’s degrees in arts and education, he went to work at his alma mater, Belen Jesuit in Miami, serving in various capacities from 1975 to 2004: religion, theology, humanities and history teacher; chair of the theology and humanities departments; academic and school counselor; chaplain; and campus ministry director. While at Belen, he also formed the Belen Youth Missions to help poor villages in the Dominican Republic, a program now in its 41st year and still going strong. In 2004, he was named pastor of Gesu Church in Miami, where he served until his retirement in April 2023. That same year, he was inducted into the Belen Hall of Fame.

Msgr. Andrew Anderson

Born in Greenville, Michigan, Msgr. Anderson was ordained a priest Nov. 8, 1974, for the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee. He came to South Florida in 1979 and began working at the Metropolitan Tribunal in 1981, serving under Archbishops Edward McCarthy and John C. Favalora. He was named head of the Tribunal in 1982, a position he retained until 1990, when he went to work in Rome for the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship. Upon his return to Miami in 1991, he was named rector of St. Mary Cathedral, where he served until 1999. In 1994, he again was named judicial vicar (head) of the Tribunal, a position he held until 2010. He also taught comparative law and canon law at St. Thomas University, in Miami Gardens, and ran a summer program in El Escorial, Spain, for 25 years. In addition to his posts at the Tribunal, he served as administrator of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Pembroke Pines (1989-90), as chaplain of the Catholic Lawyers Guild (1981-87) and Catholic Funeral Directors Guild (1987-89), and as spiritual director of the Miami Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women (1999-2010). He was in residence at St. Mary Magdalen in Sunny Isles Beach throughout most of the 1980s. He retired in May 2014 and currently helps at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Miami. He was named a Chaplain to His Holiness, with the title of monsignor, in 2001, and upgraded to Prelate of Honor to His Holiness in 2008.

Father William Axe, Trinitarians

Father Axe was born Aug. 7, 1946, in Seneca, Kansas, and ordained Oct. 12, 1974, for the Diocese of Kansas City, Kansas. On May 19, 1988, he joined the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and Captives (Trinitarians). He majored in modern languages at Kansas State University, studied at St. Mary’s University in Baltimore, and obtained a Master of Theological Studies from the Washington Theological Union in Silver Springs, Maryland. He served at parishes in Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, Louisiana and California; taught at high schools in Maryland and Louisiana, as well as Xavier University and Loyola University in New Orleans; and served as vocations director for the Trinitarian Fathers. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish and French and has served in prison ministry, a retreat center, Hispanic ministry and as a hospice chaplain. He also served as Minister Provincial, or major superior, of the Trinitarians in the U.S. from 2015-2018. Since January 2019 he has been serving in a semi-retired capacity, helping with Hispanic ministry, at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary-St. Richard in Palmetto Bay.

Father Robert Bouffier, Marianists

Father Bouffier was born Oct. 26, 1948, in Rockville Center, New York, and professed his first vows in the Society of Mary (Marianists) Aug. 22, 1967, and final vows Aug. 22, 1977. He was ordained Nov. 30, 1974, in Dayton, Ohio. He has served as a teacher at Marianist high schools in Dayton, as well as Boston College and Boston Conservatory; and as a professor at the University of Dayton and Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as at Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish, French and Portuguese. He has been serving as chaplain at Chaminade-Madonna College Prep in Hollywood and chaplain to the Marianist communities here since June 2017.

 

SILVER JUBILARIANS - 25 YEARS

Father Jaime Acevedo

Father Acevedo was born Jan. 6, 1953, in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and embarked on several careers, including as flight attendant for Eastern Airlines for 10 years and cardiovascular technologist for several years. He first thought about the priesthood at the age of six, but it wasn’t until the death of a friend many years later that he rediscerned his vocation. He then studied at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami and St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach and was ordained for the Archdiocese of Miami May 8, 1999. His first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Mark in Southwest Ranches (1999-2002), then parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception in Hialeah (2002-03) and St. Louis in Pinecrest (2003-05). In September 2005 he was named administrator of Mother of Our Redeemer in Miami, becoming pastor in 2010. He served there until February 2016, when he was named to his current assignment as pastor of the first parish where he served, St. Mark.

 

Father Daniel Barica, Franciscans

Father Barica was born Oct. 5, 1961, in Riverside (Chicago area), Illinois. He joined the Franciscans in 1991 and was ordained June 25, 1999, at Old Mission Santa Barbara. All his ministry assignments have been in California or Arizona. He came to the Archdiocese of Miami in August 2022, and helps at Blessed Sacrament Church in Oakland Park.

Father Robés Charles

Born Feb. 14, 1961, in Limbé, Haiti, Father Charles studied to become an electrician and interior designer after graduating from high school in his homeland. But he always felt called to the priesthood. After studying almost three years at Iteso, the Jesuit university in Guadalajara, Mexico — where he became fluent in Spanish — he entered St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami in 1992 and was ordained for the archdiocese on May 8, 1999. He served as parochial vicar at St. Mary Cathedral (1999-2002) and Sacred Heart Parish in Homestead (2002-04) before being appointed administrator of Divine Mercy Mission in Fort Lauderdale (2004-09). In September 2009 he was named pastor of St. Clement in Fort Lauderdale, where he remained until June 2022, when he was given his current assignment, returning to Sacred Heart as pastor.

 

Father Juan de Dios García Cortez

Father García Cortez was born in Carazo, Nicaragua, March 8, 1968, and ordained for the Archdiocese of Managua March 20, 1999. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in humanities from the Universidad Católica in Managua, then studied at the seminary of Nuestra Señora de Fátima and at the Seminario Arquidiocesano La Purísima, both in Managua. He later obtained a licentiate in pastoral theology from San Juan de Letrán in Rome, Italy. He served as rector of La Purísima seminary, as pastor of San Francisco Xavier (2007-12), Santiago Apostol (2012-18) and as parochial vicar at Cristo de las Colinas (2019-22), all in Managua, until he was exiled to the U.S. in 2022. He has been serving at Good Shepherd in Miami since October 2022.

 

Photographer: COURTESY

Father Fidelis Uko, marking 25 years of ordination in 2024.

Father Fidelis Uko

Father Uko was born Dec. 5, 1970, in Umungbogho, Nigeria. He studied at St. Joseph Seminary in Ikot-Ekpene, Nigeria, and was ordained July 24, 1999, for the Diocese of Aba, Nigeria. He served as parochial vicar and pastor in a number of parishes in that diocese from 1999 to 2014. During that time, he obtained a master’s degree and a licentiate in theology from the Catholic Institute of West Africa in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He also served as a member of the Aba diocese’s Arbitration Council, director of vocations, and member of the Theological Commission. In August 2014, he came to the Archdiocese of Miami to study for his doctoral degree at St. Thomas University. While here, he has served at St. Monica in Miami Gardens (2014-16), Little Flower in Coral Gables (2016-2022), and as a chaplain at Baptist Health’s South Miami Hospital (since December 2022).